A revised model of the inner-hair cell and auditory-nerve complex

A revised computational model of the inner-hair cell (IHC) and auditory-nerve (AN) complex is presented and evaluated. Building on previous models, the algorithm is intended as a component for use in more comprehensive models of the auditory periphery. It combines smaller components that aim to be faithful to physiology in so far as is practicable and known. Transduction between cochlear mechanical motion and IHC receptor potential (RP) is simulated using a modification of an existing biophysical IHC model. Changes in RP control the opening of calcium ion channels near the synapse, and local calcium levels determine the probability of the release of neurotransmitter. AN adaptation results from transmitter depletion. The exact timing of AN action potentials is determined by the quantal and stochastic release of neurotransmitter into the cleft. The model reproduces a wide range of animal RP and AN observations. When the input to the model is taken from a suitably nonlinear simulation of the motion of the cochlear partition, the new algorithm is able to simulate the rate-intensity functions of low-, medium-, and high-spontaneous rate AN fibers in response to stimulation both at best frequency and at other frequencies. The variation in fiber type arises in large part from the manipulation of a single parameter in the model: maximum calcium conductance. The model also reproduces quantitatively phase-locking characteristics, relative refractory effects, mean-to-variance ratio, and first- and second-order discharge history effects.